Apprentice of Dragons
by Valzz
Summary: Hiccup leaves Berk. A few months later, a Dragon Master terrorizes the Barbaric Archipelago. Berk has a desperate solution to end this problem. Hiccstrid. obviously..(Hiccup leaves Berk AU).
1. Prologue

"Come on, Bud." Hiccup called for his Night Fury friend, Toothless. "We are leaving this placr."

Toothless tilted his head to the side, his vibrant green eyes staring at Hiccup curiously.

Hiccup sighed."Well, I won dragon training due to my experience with you and now I have to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in front of the village. I can't do that so we are gonna get out of here." Hiccup stated firmly.

-In the forests of Berk-

A certain blonde teen with blue azure eyes is hurling axes at innocent little trees. _Since when did Hiccup the Useless get so good at Dragon training?_ She was top of the class, it seemed almost certain that she would have been the one to have earned the honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the village. She was so close to restoring her family's honor and pride after her Uncle's disgraceful death but Hiccup just had to get in the way.

Then a melancholic peaceful humming was heard among the trees. Astrid immediately recognized who it was. _Hiccup! This was her chance to find out what he had been doing all this time!_ And so Hiccup –with Astrid trailing behind him- walked towards the cove with a relieved yet somewhat distorted look on his face. He looked like a person who had just made a difficult decision but was internally glad of his decision. He was torn between his village beliefs and his own and whether or not to just take the easy way out on Toothless. Once they reached the cove, Hiccup was met with an excited Night Fury. They didn't realize the presence of a third individual until-

"HICCUP GET DOWN!" Astrid yelled while charging towards Toothless, axe in hand. Toothless shot a plasma blast at her feet which sent her tumbling across the cove, causing her head to collide into a large boulder and effectively knocking her unconscious.

When she awoke, she saw no signs of the Night Fury that attacked her, and more importantly, no signs of Hiccup either. She quickly got up and frantically search the cove for any sign of Hiccup. She found none except for a small dagger washed ashore the lagoon. There was no doubt as to who it belonged to. On its handle was engraved, _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. _

"No! This can't be!" Her mind refused to accept that Hiccup was dead. But there was no other explanation. Unless he had killed the Night Fury but since she was no signs of a fight she highly doubted it. No, Hiccup was dead.

She ran back, tears swelled up in her eyes, to the village.

The moment she arrived she immediately looked for the Chief, Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's father. He was currently sorting a livestock dispute between two villagers. She then proceeded to inform Stoick, about what she had witnessed. She also showed him the small intricate dagger that used to belong to Hiccup.

"What did you say?" Stoick bellowed.

"A Night Fury took him, I saw it and tried to fight it but it knocked me unconscious."

"You_ failed_ to protect the next Chief of Berk? This is all your FAULT! You are as much of a failure and a coward as your Uncle." Stoick spitefully accused.

Before she got the chance to defend herself, Stoick continued," Send search parties everywhere around the island and to every single island in the archipelago, find my son, leave no stone unturned." With that, several Vikings went away to inform the rest of the village to prepare for the search.

* * *

A few months later,

The Chief sat on his chair in the Great Hall, the search parties were expected to come back that day.

He hoped that at least one would bring even the slightest hint that his son was alive.

When they did return however, none of them could find any clue on Hiccup's whereabouts. The chief's heart broke the day Valka Haddock was taken by a Stormcutter, but his soul died after he lost his son too. And thus with a shattered heart and a broken soul he ordered a monument to be erected in Hiccup's honour in the Cove.

He blamed Astrid Hofferson for not being capable enough to save his son and from then on treated her and her family with scorn disdain.

Most of the villagers were at first glad for Hiccup's death, after all he has done more damage than the dragons during the raids on several occasions. It was only until their next dragon raid that they found out how useful Hiccup was in the forge as the two-limbed blacksmith couldn't work fast enough to supply all the villagers with weapons when they needed them.

Stoick was rarely seen in public again. Gobber, although he was usually always in a cheerful mood, rarely joked anymore. The village's condition only worsened by time and each year was harsher than the one before.

Dragon Training continued, Astrid was again top of the class after Hiccup's disappearance and yet Stoick didn't allow her to fight the Monstrous Nightmare.

"You couldn't kill a dragon when it mattered, why should I let you kill one for sport?" Stoick spat out when she asked why.

At last Gothi and Gobber managed to convince Stoick to let Astrid fight the Monstrous Nightmare

She was more determined than ever to kill the beast in front of the tribe, it was the only way she could restore her family's pride and honor.

As she stepped into the arena, ready for combat, the creature gave her a piercing glare, she met its glare and crept towards the beast. It lit itself on fire and spewed its gel towards her, which she dodged by cartwheeling to the side of the Nightmare, intending to target the weak spots where its wings joined with its torso.

The beast, realizing what she is trying to do reared itself back and knocked her away with its tail. She reassumed a fighting stance almost immediately and charged the dragon again. The dragon buried one of its claws into her shield, which she threw away causing the dragon to lose it balance, creating an opening for a swift kill.

It was then that they heard the shrilling noise produced by the speed of wings of a Night Fury and she was thrown off balance when a plasma blast hit the ground between her and the Nightmare. The Night Fury proceeded to destroying the other cages and all of the dragons that was previously locked up flew off into the sky. The villagers all acted quickly and dove into the arena to fight off the new threat.

Then a figure clad in black slid off the Night Fury, fought off the Vikings that charged him with ease. His motions were fluid and the strokes of his blade resembled an elegant dance from the Far East. He then proceeded to fly away on his Night Fury. Tales were quickly made about the mysterious Dragon Rider and people debated on whether he was a man or a demon sent by the Death God himself to terrorize Midgard.

* * *

Astrid awoke to the sound of battle and explosions. She quickly dressed herself and grabbed her axe to fight in the dragon raid. When she came out of her house she saw a Gronckle pursuing a small child who was trying to put out the fires. She immediately got in its way and managed to muzzle it and wrestled it to the ground. Just as she prepared to strike the killing blow, the mysterious Dragon Master appeared as if from thin air and drove her back, saving the Gronckle's life. He gave a hand gesture and all the dragons around him retreated and flew away.

The men who weren't trying to put out the fires surrounded the figure and attacked him, but he repelled each and every single one of them so expertly she couldn't help but be mesmerized by his graceful movements. Then a jet black dragon appeared out of nowhere and both Dragon and Rider took off in the next second.

When the dust finally settled, a few buildings were burnt, the catapults and traps were destroyed but most miraculously, no one sustained a severe injury.

The other villages also begun reporting about a mysterious man riding a Night Fury and the Dragon Master became a legend amongst the Vikings. Some wanted to capture him to learn his secrets on how to control the dragons while most wanted to kill him and all the dragons he controls, usually out of spite for the dragons.

* * *

**A/N: Woo. A little prologue. Anyways this is technically my first story in this website so please be nice! **


	2. The God of Dragons or so he says

Hiccup's POV

Hiccup was feeling the breeze on his face, he had just left Berk. He wanted to start a new life in another island and try to convince the people to be able to cohabitate with dragons.

Suddenly, he was trapped in a bola as he and Toothless fell from the skies into an island. A few men jumped on Toothless and managed to muzzle and immobilize him with dragon root. A big, burly man who could only be their leader, came to Hiccup and asked,

"Who are you and what are you doing here with the beast?"

Hiccup said that he was the heir to a village named Berk and that the dragon is his friend, Toothless.

"The dragon is your friend? This runt of an heir befriended a dragon!" He chuckled and continued ,"How much do you think he will be worth?"

Hiccup replied," I am worth nothing. My village doesn't want me and I am not valuable to them!" He shot a glare at his captor, who introduced himself as Arvid.

"Then that means you are also not valuable to us. Do what you want with him boys!"

The men then strode over to him and began hitting him all over the place, bruising him from neck to toe. Toothless gave a cry of warning and tried to shoot a plasma blast but the muzzle prevented him from doing anything.

Then Hiccup was swirled around and his leggings were torn. Hiccup retaliated by punching a man on the chest and screamed for help as he realized what they intended to do. The leader of the gang grabbed his arms and tied them together with a rope and pinned him down to the ground. They then tugged on his underwear only to stop when they saw a man walk towards them.

The man looked quite young and he has a gleaming white suit and a equally shiny sword which he held in his hand. He spoke a mantra and a column of light appeared from the tip of his sword, piercing the heart of one of my captors. They, except their leader, took their weapons and charged at him only to be killed in one slash, the sheer force of the slash pushing me to the ground.

Arvid, the leader looked on in terror and gave an indignant cry of vengeance, unsheathing his blade and charging the young man. The young man sidestepped to doge the attack but Arvid expected it and so he swung his sword around. It was blocked by the young man but he kept his onslaught of attacks going. Arvid then jumped to slice the other man from above but he dodged it and stabbed Arvid through the heart.

He then strode towards Hiccup and cut his bonds loose. Hiccup asked,

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ymir, and I am the God of Dragons."

"Why are you here?"

"I want you to become my apprentice. You see, my creations are fighting the humans for nothing. It was never my intention to have my creations clashed against the humans. I have created them to be partners, equals and not enemies. To put it simply, I need your help."

"How can I help exactly?"

"Let us talk in my dimension, it isn't very private in here and it smells like the dead."

"That is obviously because we are in a clearing littered with corpses." Hiccup deadpanned.

"Hold my hand. It is quite a ride to my dimension."

Hiccup held his hand and fell through a hole of light. He recognized it in paintings as the Bifrost. He felt solid ground under him and saw that he was in a hall of light."

"Whoa, what just happened?"

"I transported you to someplace private. It's a great place isn't it? Made it meself actually. Took me the good part of a decade to do so. I might have kidnapped a few people to help me with all those bathrooms and rooms, in case I've got human visitors that is. Isn't is just greaa—" he trailed off, reminding himself of what he wanted to discuss about.

"Anyway, I brought you here to tell you how you might be able to stop the dragon raids. Listen carefully." He took a deep breath and continued," So, there is this queen in the dragon nest that forces the smaller dragons to bring her food or she would eat them herself. She is the alpha in the group and one of the biggest and most powerful dragons I have ever created. But she is a complete tyrant and the only way to stop her is to kill her. Of course, I could do it myself but I restrict myself from doing too much work as this is a great chance for me to test you if you are worthy to become my apprentice."

"Okay so I just hafta blast in the nest kill the queen and get out right? Sounds easy enough." Hiccup answered, underestimating the Red Death by a lot.

"The one problem is that she is the size of a small mountain and even on that Night Fury you will have trouble piercing her hide. Not to mention she can probably swallow you and your dragon whole as an appetizer in one bite."

"Okay, so how am I supposed to kill it?" asked Hiccup, still dazed over how something could be so large.

"You have to figure that out on your own. Use your brains that Odin gifted to you! Oh, almost forgot, the dragon cannot be domesticated either and well it breathes fire large enough to swallow the entirety of Berk in one shot."

"This just keeps getting better doesn't it?" Hiccup replied sarcastically

He gave an amused chuckle and said," I will bet 50 gold coins that you will pee yourselves the instant you see her."

"And uhh, where is this nest?"

"If you fly towards the fog through Helheim's gate, your dragon would take you there automatically. I also have some gifts to bestow upon by soon to be apprentice."

He flicked his finger and Hiccup went into a coma. He awoke feeling a bit sharper and in an armory of sorts."

"Where am I now, Ymir?" He asked still trying to understand why his senses are sharper than normal.

"I was just giving you your equipment." He led Hiccup to a small mask which has paintings of dwarves and their magnificent crafts.

"I see inside you the hands of an inventor and a thinker. And as such I feel this armor will be the most fitting one for you." Hiccup wore the mask and a light yet sturdy chainmail wrapped him from head to toe, covered by leather. "It is made of mithril. As tough as dragon scales yet lighter than any metal. Here is your sword," He pulled out a retractable sword and ignited it, brandishing the flaming sword in the air. "It is covered by Monstrous Nightmare gel. It can also spill zippleback gas. Cause a little spark with the falmes and it will blow up anything inside of its area of effect. Also in dire situations, you can chant a special mantra and it will grow in size and produce a whirlpool of flame around you. But do not use it too often as it takes a heavy toll on the user's energy."

"Thanks, I really appreciate this gift but since I am all this raw Vikingness I thought you shud give me daggers instead of swords." Hiccup said

"About that, I gave you three times the normal athletic capability of humans. You are now stronger, faster and more durable. Can't you feel your senses being a little sharper?" He replied and pulled out a sword of his own. "Now fight me."

"What!? But I do not know a thing about sword fighting.."

"Which is why I transferred centuries worth of training from swordmasters all around the world. I will go easy on you so there is no need to be scared."

Hiccup lifted his sword surprisingly easily and charged at the man who in turn parried it away and delivered a punch to Hiccup's gut. "Again" he called out and so Hiccup tried to slash at him again and yet he easily blocked it with his sword and poked 6 stabs into hiccup's chest with his rapier. He then activated the sword to its real power and suddenly jolts of purple lightning flashed towards him and knocked him over. He was then restrained by the ice on his limbs as the man has impaled his sword to the ground sending clusters of ice around the room. Still he did better than they both had expected.

"Well, I'll see you again next time with a little surprise…" The figure then vanished into thin air as Hiccup awoke to a concerned Night Fury who began licking him when his eyes fluttered open. He then wondered if it had all been a dream but the fact that he was now covered in armor and had a very intricately designed blade completely destroyed that theory. He flew away towards the nest to go visit the queen and see for himself the monster the Dragon God had told him about earlier.

When they reached the island, Hiccup followed the rest of the dragons and soon he found himself inside the nest. A few dragons brought her some food but a particular old gronckle only managed to offer a small fish and so it lunged upwards and ate it instantly. Hiccup whooped in surprise and was now directly eye to eye with the Red Death. Hiccup witnessed for himself its sheer size and immediately ran towards Toothless and away from the Giant Dragon. The dragon in question roared and breathed a huge wave of fire which covered Hiccup and Toothless in flames. Hiccup sustained only a few minor burns thanks to the mithril chainmail he wore and sat down thinking about what he wanted to do next. He knew exactly what to do now that he knew the reason behind raids and he flew towards a certain island in the Barbaric Archipelago named Berk, his previous 'home'.


	3. The Dragon Apprentice

Hiccup and his Night Fury, Toothless finally arrived in Berk. It had been quite some time since his 'death' and he stared in shock as he saw the entire village in the arena. He knew that the only thing that ever got the entire village's attention like that was the graduation exam for Dragon Training.

He swooped in and blasted a hole through the roof of the arena and stepped between the Dragon Fighting Prodigy, Astrid, who came in first place after his supposed 'death' and the Nightmare. Astrid stared in shock and a slight tinge of fear in her eyes. A few men tried to capture hm but due to his 'gifts', he repelled them easily.

He then freed all the dragons and hovered in the air for a while longer. He proclaimed," Why do you keep on fighting the dragons? They are innocent and intelligent creatures!" Screams of disagreement could be heard all around him drowning out his explanation about the dragon nest. At last he said," Fine, I know how to stop these raids but it seems you people are too stubborn to listen. We will meet again." And with that he took off to the skies and only looked back to see the appalled faces of the blonde girl, who stood motionless. 'She had recognized Toothless' he thought to himself.

Back in the arena, Astrid was scolded for letting the man get away by the chief. He told her that she was a coward, and named her 'Frozen' Astrid Hofferson. She became stiff on hearing it and ran out to the forests, crying. She knew the chief would always despise her and would always jump into punishing every single mistake she made.

A few days later,

Astrid awoke to the distinctive sound of a Night Fury. 'Another dragon raid!' she thought to herself. She saw a mysterious, hooded figure walk into the forge. She stealthily followed him into the forge, intending to strike him when he didn't expect it. But, the same moment she entered, she found herself against one of the walls, piercing green, forest eyes glaring at her. She had seen them somewhere before but she could not figure where.

Without giving Astrid the time to raise the alarm or scream, he jumped over the forge window and thre she saw Spitelout, blocking his way. Spitelout charged at him with his hammer while the man took his sword and easily sidestepped the hammer. She watched in awe at the man's expertise as he cut through Spitelout's hammer and stabbed him in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground. Several more people came and Sven managed to hit him with his axe right at the neck, only for the axe to shatter upon impact and the mysterious figure sweeping everyone off their feet. At the next moment, his Night Fury came and they both disappeared.

Stoick then came rushing and demanded an explanation. Astrid told him everything that had happened and Stoick was furious. He named the Dragon Master as Public Enemy Number One and ordered the people to kill him on sight as he would do the same. "But he clearly didn't kill Spitelout despite having the chance and no reason not to." Every eye was at her now and Stoick growled at her,

"He didn't have the time to do it, how dare you say that your chief is mistaken!"

Astrid was taken aback, she only spoke the truth but everyone seemed to side with the chief. She ran out back into her house and cried in her bed until morning. She didn't deserve this treatment, all she did was be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A few years had passed and the raids were more devastating than ever. Without any dragons they were not able to train the children into learning how to fight them and the next generation of warriors could not fight them well enough.

Berk was now a very small village with only around 300 inhabitants from what used to be one of the biggest villages in the Archipelago.

Hiccup and Ymir were walking side by side in an ice pathway. Hiccup broke the 'ice' (pun very much intended) between them

"Why are we here again?"

"I am introducing you to someone. She may be able to help you in your endeavors."

"Wait, you are not trying to get me engaged to some lady right?"

"Of course not, I know you only have eyes for a certain blonde,"Ymir said raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, blushed with embarrassment, and said," That was just a stupid childhood crush, I got over it already."

"Sure, you did." Was the only reply.

Hiccup was about to say something to defend himself when he saw the inside of the sanctuary. It was a dragon haven, filled with all sorts of dragons and there was a middle-aged auburn haired woman with a staff overlooking a ledge.

"Hey, Valka!" The woman in question turned her head around and he noticed that she had distinct green eyes

"I keep my promises. Hiccup, this is your mother Valka."

Hiccup stood there motionless, his world tumbling upside down, he had a thousand questions for her but one seems to reign over the others. He screamed,

"Where have you been all this time!? Why did you never come back? Did you know how hard it was with Stoick, Heck-the man doesn't know how to be a father and u left me with him!" He pointed an accusing finger to his mother. Their relationship isn't off to a good start.

"I am sorry, dear. But I was afraid if I came back they would ask me where I had been, those people are too stubborn, they will definitely attack this place and there would have been a massacre."

"Now, now let us not fight. Hiccup wants to stop the Red Death. I thought you could maybe give him some advice and help him in his mission." Ymir said breaking the tense atmosphere.

The Bewilderbeast suddenly emerged and startled Hiccup. Ymir told him about the Bewilderbeast, who shot a slight breeze of cold air, a sign of affection. Hiccup though stomped out of the sanctuary and left on Toothless without saying goodbye.

"That boy is as rude and stubborn as his father." Valka commented

"Well it isn't his fault, not completely. He will face many difficult choices in the future," he said ,"and awkward ones too," he added after witnessing a short vision of what the future holds.

Meanwhile in Berk, Mildew the village most hated man was exiled for talking back to the chief when he was in a bad mood. He had gone out the village searching for the outcasts and screaming to the village that they would regret exiling him.

A meeting between chieftains were arranged in Berk. Chief Thuggory of Meathead islands, Chieftain Camicazi of the Bog-Burglars, Chief Dagur _the Deranged _of the Berserkers and many others were discussing about the mysterious Dragon Master. Dagur kept saying that they should just shoot him from the skies while some others aid that his knowledge may be useful so they should try to capture him. Stoick said that those were only if they could shoot him from the sky when he ride the fastest dragon known to man and he himself has great skill, strength and agility. They were all quiet, thinking when Stoick spoke up,

"I have an idea. It is quite barbaric and may sound a bit desperate but we are desperate aren't we?"

"What is the idea?" Camicazi asked, the rest of the chiefs listening intently.

"Some of you may not agree with this but this is my idea…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, it was way too tempting. Ill reveal the 'plan' when i upload chapter 4, presumably tomorrow. Anyways I hope you are enjoying this story so far! I appreciate any feedback or advice on what you may want to see or expect int he following chapters!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just to make this clear, the timeline for this chapter, unless stated otherwise is when Hiccup and Astrid was around HTTYD 2 age.**

Chapter 4

To say that the village was cruel to Astrid was an understatement. Almost the entire village disliked her to some degree. She walked towards the forge, intending to get her axe sharpened but mainly because she wanted to talk with Gobber about Hiccup. She had always been infatuated with him. He was kind and caring unlike Snotlout who was always self-centred. She remembered that she would sometimes take her family's weapons just so she could watch Hiccup as he sharpened it.

-_Flashback_-

"You really did a number on this axe, Astrid."

"Yeah, do u think you can repair it?"

He looked up to her and smiled. His smile was like sunshine on her heart.

"Of course! Anything for the greatest warrior of this generation!" he said as he turned to sharpen the axe. He was too kind.

"Thank you, Hiccup."

He finished it in record speed and gave her back her axe, polished and shiny. "Bye, Astrid" He said as he turned to do something else.

"Bye, Hiccup"

-_End Flashback_-

"What's on yer' mind, Astrid?" Gobber spoke which broke her out of her trance.

"Oh, I was just thinking about him," she replied softly.

"Who? Snotlout?" Gobber knew who she was talking about but he still wanted to confirm it.

"No. I was thinking about _him_."

"Oh… Why?" Her espression hardened but Gobber could see the guild in her eyes.

"Why? Maybe cuz' I was weak to not be able to save him? Maybe cuz' it is my fault he is not here anymore?"

"It was not your fault, Astrid. You couldnae have beaten the Night Fury. It was a miracle one of you came back alive."

"And the chief hates me for being the one alive and not his son."

She took her sharpened axe and marched back home. Carelessly, she bumped into someone and spilled a bucket of vegetables.

"Use your eyes, you little bitch!"

Soon, the entire village was there, talking about her behind her back. The man hit her right across the face with the bucket and she stumbled backwards. Everyone stood there and watched her struggle to get back on her feet. She was kicked to the ground again by the man and his friends and they only stopped when they saw Asmund Hofferson, Astrid's father run towards them in a fury. The crowd dispersed and Astrid was taken back to her home.

She sat in her bed, contemplating about what she has done wrong. Tears started to spill from her eyes. It was a rare sight indeed. The only other incident that managed to make her cry was the death of her Uncle, Finn Hofferson in the hands of a flightmare.

* * *

It was late afternoon when she came to the Great Hall, everyone came to hear the announcement from the previous meeting of Chieftains. She took her seat at the very back beside her parents. She saw Camicazi, the Bog Burglar Chieftain shoot her a look of concern and pity. Out of the chieftains that were gathered, she looked especially sore.

Stoick stood at the podium and greeted everyone coldly.

"I have an announcement to make. It seems the chieftains have agreed to a solution for this problem with the Dragon Master. As he is disinterested in gold, livestock and other valuable items, we must give him something he doesn't have."

"And what can we give him, Stoick?" Gobber asked his friend.

"A virgin thrall. To be whatever he wants her to be. I have decided who we should offer to suffer that fate."

Astrid immediately knew who he chose. It was obvious. She felt it again. The look of pity from the chieftains, the cold gaze from Stoick. It was all telltale signs.

"Stoick, NO! You cannot give anyone to that beast. A chief protect his OWN!" Gobber yelled at his friend, he figured who he was going to pick and continued," You knew it wasn't her fault, why are you so cruel to her?"

"I am protecting this village by offering up one worthless woman! I hereby declare that Astrid Hofferson would be offered up as virgin sacrifice to the Dragon Master when he comes to negotiate with use next week. Until then, she would stay in her house with guards keeping her on watch."

Gobber grunted in frustration, he knew Stoick could never be persuaded otherwise.

Stoick gave a number of reasons why he chose her. That since she is capable she could possibly kill the Dragon Master and that she was also untouched and had refused all of her suitors. But everyone knew the real reason. The cold attitude Stoick had given her after Hiccup's 'death' was not missed by the gossiping people of Berk.

She looked to her parents for support but found nothing. Her parents was promised financial benefits in turn for their only daughter and they accepted the offer. She felt betrayed and angry. She took her axe and tried to run only to be caught by the many guards stationed near the exit. She was placed in house captivity until the next week which the Dragon Master would be coming to negotiate.

* * *

The day before the Dragon Master came, Ruffnut came to talk to Astrid. She instructed her to get ready and pack up some basic necessities. She said that she and the rest of her friends would be coming to get her out of the ordeal.

The next morning, there was a knock on her door. It opened to reveal Snotlout and Fishlegs.

"Quick, are you ready?" Snotlout asked

"Yes I am, let's go."

They walked out and sneakily headed to the far side of the island. Tuffnut was keeping watch while they try to sneak into a ship and sail somewhere.

Suddenly, Dagur's voice rang from behind them,

"Hey, if u don't want your friends dead then stop and come quietly."

They turned to find Ruffnut and Tuffnut tied up and each had a knife to their throats. They begrudgingly followed Dagur and his men and was led to Stoick who was preparing for the negotiations with the Dragon Master. Stoick was surprised to see such act of betrayal. His gaze swept through them and when it landed on Snotlout he cried out: "You are the heir to Berk, how can you betray us so?"

"I never betrayed Berk, if Berk wants to sacrifice an innocent girl for their selfish wants, then I don't want to be chief either!" he exclaimed loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Dagur spoke up," What should we do with these traitors? Let's execute them all. Traitors deserve that."

Astrid was horrified to hear that. She had caused her friends to be dragged into such a mess, she had to figure a way out. Before anyone could respond they heard the distinct shrill of a Night Fury and watched as it landed in front of them gracefully.

The Dragon Master slid off his back and was surrounded by Monstrous Nightmares on his flanks, and a Zippleback in the rear, along with 2 Deadly Nadders on the roofs around the plaza.

"Dragon Master! Your beasts have ravaged us long enough, leave us alone FOREVER!" Stoick's booming voice called out. He took Astrid and shoved her to the ground in front of him. "A sign of our good will. A virgin, yours to do as you please. All we ask in return is for your beasts to leave us alone."

The Dragon Master sauntered over to her and lifted her chin up so he could match her gaze. She saw what seemed like a look of longing and at the same time, pity. He turned on his heel and walked back to his dragon.

"Why Dragon Master? Why do u refuse everything we offer?"

"You are clearly offering a girl who didn't want this. Why should I accept?"

"This is boring, can we kill the traitors now?" asked Dagur the Deranged

Astrid understood immediately that her friends would pay the price of trying to set her free. She immediately got on her heels and ran to the Dragon Master and pleaded with him.

"Please, save my friends, they tried to save me and now they will be punished. If you do that, I will do whatever you want. Please…"

The crowd was stunned to hear her pleas, they had never heard Astrid Hofferson beg before.

"Very well then," the Dragon Master responded. "Alright new deal, you set them free and I will leave you alone."

"You are in no place to make demands," Stoick growled.

"He is willing to leave us alone, Stoick," Camicazi said.

"So? We can totally beat him, He only brought a few dragons and himself, I say we capture him now."

They then heard a chuckle from the Dragon Master and turned towards him," Did you really think I would come to a dragon hating village without knowing I could get out safely or not? You make me laugh."

Stoick raised his hammer and charged at the man, only to be repelled and soon the Dragon Master spoke some sort of spell, which formed a small whirlpool of fire around the sword. He threw it towards the people, knocking most of them unconscious and causing a few minor burns as the flames were not too large to kill. The dragons then fought against the rest and managed to delay them enough for the Dragon Master to free the 'traitors' and instructed them to run to their boat and head northeast. He then led Astrid to his dragon and helped her on. They then took off to the skies, followed by the other dragons.

They flew high in the sky, and Astrid was screaming at the top of her lungs. The Dragon Master hugged her from behind and told her not to worry. She began thinking of what the Dragon Master would ask of her later when they were safe.

Suddenly, they stooped low towards the sea level and flew alongside a ship. She recognized her friends on the ship and waved at them.

"Hi, guys. I am glad you are all safe now."

"Astrid! Thank you, I mean you saved us," Ruffnut said turning towards the Dragon Master and said," Thanks to you too."

"No problem. Just proceed northeast from here to this island," he pointed to a small island on the map and traced where they had to go. He then gave the map to Fishlegs and he began steering the ship towards that direction. "I'll come back after I have dropped her off."

They flew away from the ship in high speed. When they reached the island a couple of hours later, she saw a huge diversity of dragons living there. She tensed around the sight of so many dragons and it was noticed by the Dragon Master. He whispered to her ear," It is fine, as long as you don't provoke them, they won't attack you."

They went into a massive valley with a mansion 5 times the size of Chief Stoick's house in the centre. They entered and the Dragon Master showed her to her room and told her that she was free to go anywhere except in his room without his permission first. She nodded attentively.

She then proceeded to ask the question that has been bugging her from the flight. She kneeled in front of the Dragon Master who gave her a curious look. She asked,

"What do you wish of me, M'Lord?"

**A/N: Okay so tell me what you want to see, do you want Hiccup to just let her be or maybe he would want her to do something else? Please leave a review it means a lot to me.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So I have been told many things on what Astrid's fate should be and though I would rather her not having to do anything at all, I think that will be the most common and expected result and so I tried something more in between. **

* * *

Chapter 5

"What do you wish of me, M'lord?" Her voice rang through the air and confused Hiccup of what it could mean.

He pondered on it and remembered the deal he struck with her in Berk. He thought about what he wanted her to do for him. A bright idea suddenly hit him and he turned to her with a devious smirk. He then ordered her in a commanding tone,

"Get on the bed and take off your dress."

Astrid reluctantly walked over to the bed and did as she was told. He then lunged after her and pinned her on the bed. 'This is it' she thought to herself 'don't look at him when he takes you, and maybe it will be over soon.' What he did next surprised her. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and climbed off of her.

"Get dressed, I am going to go and fetch your friends." With that, he went out and flew away on his Night Fury leaving a very confused blonde behind him.

Meanwhile, in the boat Snotlout face was contorted with a slight touch of annoyance and impatience.

"How much longer until we reach this island? The waves are so rocky I feel like I am going to vomit out my lunch."

"The Dragon Master told us that it would take approximately half a day by boat which means we will get there in around 2 more hours." Fishlegs explained.

"You know, I can't help but wonder what he has done to Astrid." Ruffnut said with a curious look.

"Probably something horrible, he is the Dragon Master after all. The most hated man in the entire archipelago!" Snotlout said.

"Except that he saved us from certain death…" Fishlegs murmured just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Tuff is surprisingly quiet right now." Ruffnut said and they all turned to look at Tuffnut.

"I am trying to master the art of meditation. I heard that if you do it well enough you can move objects with your mind. But yeah this trip is taking forever, what if we went the wrong direction and fall of the edge of the Earth?" He proceeded to ramble about everything he knew about meditation and that bored the crap out of everyone else, including Fishlegs.

"But we cannot fall of the edge of the Earth," Ruffnut said,"after all the Earth is round just like the Moon and the Sun except that they are both much smaller." Everyone rolled their eyes at this.

"Of course the Earth is flat, just look at the ground, its flat isn't it?" Snotlout said impatiently.

"Maybe the Earth has some sort of Loki magic that it employs to make it appear flat. But it is definitely round!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Now that you put it like that, it makes so much sense, sis!" Tuffnut replied

"I know right, I am such a genius."

Then they heard a dragon land behind them. The Dragon Master came back with a Zippleback, a Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronckle. He told them to ride the dragon and gave them a rope to hang on. He quickly taught them how to bond and establish trust with a dragon. He then steered the boat to the direction of the island and locked it in place so it could get there by itself.

They then headed out and flew towards the island.

Back in the island,

"Wow this place is amazing. There are so many dragons here. Can I observe and study them?" Fishlegs asked the Dragon Master.

"Of course you can, but I would rather not find burnt ash or fleshless skeletons in my island." He said with a slight chuckle."

Snotlout then said cautiously," Okay, what have you done with Astrid? If you lay a finger on her then I'll," he was cut off by the Dragon Master who asked, "Then what? Did you forget that you are completely under MY mercy here? Now be thankful about it and keep your tongue locked up."

Snotlout gave a low growl and the Dragon Master found it amusing," So intimidating."

Back in the house, Astrid was preparing some food for her friends and 'master'. She managed a green-looking stew and placed it proudly on the table. She heard voices outside and knew they were coming and so went out to greet them. When she walked through the door, she found an annoyed Snotlout, a fascinated Fishlegs and bickering twins. They all stopped and greeted her.

"Good Evening!"

"Hey guys, I have prepared some mutton stew for dinner. Let us eat together, kay?"

"Oh no, do we have to eat? I am not hungry." Snotlout said

"Yeah us too," said the twins

"I am also going to have to pass," Fishlegs said

"You MUST eat it because I have worked so hard for it and those who don't will answer to my axe!" She yelled at her friends.

"I have also prepared it for you, M'lord" she turned to look at the Dragon Master who was watching the scene intently.

"Uhmm, for now you can call me Alcarondas." The Dragon Master answered , slightly cringing at the name she had called him by.

"As you wish." She turned on her heel and walked inside.

"Damn, can we run away or something?" Tuffnut asked

"She will probably track us down and kill us if we do." Fishlegs answered. He continued," We don't really have a choice here, we need to eat it or we face her wrath."

They then grumpily walked inside the house and towards the kitchen. The foul smell of pepperoni mixed with cabbage and some kind of tea floating in the air around.

Even Hiccup knew of Astrid's none-existent cooking skills. He knew she probably expected him to expect her to cook for him now but he had rather not let her cook at all. A memory then resurfaced in his head.

-Flashback-

"_Here is your stew, Mr Savardson." Said a happy 12 year old-blonde who is filling up the post of cook in the Meade Hall as the cook, Miss Sylir is currently sick and unable to cook."_

_Everyone ate their food hungrily but stopped after tasting it and began to vomit out what they had just eaten. Most of them received food-poisoning and didn't get up from their bed for the next few days. Since then, Astrid's cooking was made into a Berkian legend saying that she once defeated an entire armada of Berserkers by cooking for them. _

-End Flashback-

They sat on the chairs and took a small serving of the green-coloured soup which looked nothing like mutton stew. They forcibly ate it and all of them vomited them back out except for Hiccup. He bore the taste and said in between breaths," that.. tasted.. really….. good. You are …a great cook." He coughed and choked after every spoonful but somehow managed to finish a small bowl of it. "Thanks for the food, Astrid."

"How did you know my name?" The blonde in question asked him.

He panicked for a moment and said," Well your friends called you that and so I assumed your name must be Astrid."

"I am going to sleep now, everyone can go anywhere except my own room unless I call you there myself, understood?"

A chorus of 'yes' rang from the people there and so he headed back to his room for a night's rest.

The next day they agreed to go and meet up with a few dragons to try and bond with them and so they headed out to look for the same Gronckle, Zippleback and Monstrous Nightmare from the day before and also find a dragon for Astrid.

* * *

**A/N: If you are wondering how Hiccup eats without opening his mask and revealing his face, I should have descried the helmet better in the second chapter but it has a mouth piece that can retracted for him to eat without showing his face.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. It has been a busy couple of days since I last updated. Thanks for all the support you have given me and Enjoy! Also I have a LOT planned for this fic. It will not end after the Red Death's defeat not even close to ending. I also have no plans on abandoning this fic in the near future although my updates will be sporadic as my exams are around the corner and I wuld be vvery busy in the few days I have that are free.**

The sun is bright and shining, the trees waning at the melancholic tune of the birds. The group had gone to the forests to search for dragons to ride. They were engaged in a very loud conversation.

"Are you sure we want to be friends with a dragon? I mean they are like the sworn enemies of us Vikings. We are committing high level treason right now…" Fishlegs squeaked timidly.

"We had this talk just now, dragons are docile as long as you don't provoke them- most of them at least. Plus, you are already branded traitors to your tribe. You literally have a bounty on your head to be sent back to Berk for, what would most likely be, an execution should you be found guilty in a trial by boar-headed Vikings." Hiccup said exasperatedly. He couldn't blame them , he really couldn't, because after all they had been raised since a young age to hate and kill dragons on sight, except the Night Fury at least.

"He is soo right.. And how could you not want to ride on a dragon? That would be like the best thing ever!" Ruffnut said in an excited tone

"And imagine all the mischief it could cause too!" Her twin brother added.

Hiccup sighed and moved along the winding path to a clearing in the woods. In the centre of the clearing was a group of gronckles. One of them, he recognized was the same one that had carried Fishlegs to the island. He motioned for them to inch closer and he turned to Fishlegs and gave a curt nod," Your time to shine, Fish. Make sure you are completely weaponless. This is a test of trust you must hold out your hand and wait for her to come to you. Once you obtain a dragon's trust they will fight alongside you. They are fierce and loyal and maybe you could learn a few more dragon facts from them."

Fishlegs nodded and slowly advanced forward, hand forward stopping a few feet away from the Gronckle. "Hey there, My name is Fishlegs. I would love to be your friend. I like Gronckles, they are cute, hard and fascinating." He turned away, expecting the Gronckle to bite his hand any second. But instead he felt the hard yet smooth scales of a Gronckle and heard it happily croon as it proceeded to scratch her in the neck just like how Hiccup had done.

Fishlegs and the Gronckle, who he named Meatlug, bonded incredibly quickly. He would often treat her like a baby and she liked it – a lot. Next they found a zippleback, and well the Twins immediately became friends with them just from the striking similarity between the two pairs. After all, the Zippleback were both insanely stupid and so are the Twins. So they took one dragon head each as their (half?) dragon. The Zippleback was named Barf and Belch and it was quite friendly although Hiccup suspected that that was only due to their stupidity and the fact they probably have no clue what is going on around them.

They went on looking for the Monstrous Nightmare, who Snotlout kept proclaiming as the most powerful of all the dragons, and getting a tail sweep from Toothless everytime he said it.

All of a sudden, Astrid raced over towards a cliff, and there they saw a beautiful golden-blue nadder perched on its cliffsides. It looked majestic and slightly alarmed at the new intruders. She squawked at them in warning as if to tell them to stay back. Astrid crouched down as what was taught to her and kept the dragon at eye-level. She held out a bucket of fish and slowly took a cod and threw it to the Nadder. It ate it in mid-air and tip-tapped around her, asking for more. _It must be hungry_, Astrid thought to herself, so she fetched another fish from the bucket and threw it and again it ate it hungrily. She then raised out her hand and turned away just like how Fishlegs did it and the Nadder pressed her snout on her hand and nuzzled it affectionately.

"What would her name be?" asked Hiccup , still disguised.

"Stormfly" she replied softly while stroking the dragon.

"That is a good name, I mean definitely better than what your friends named their dragons."

"Says the man who named a Night Fury, Toothless. Like Toothless? Really?!" Ruffnut sneered

"Hey! At least mine was descriptive of his features! Unlike Barf and Belch I may add." Hiccup retorted

Toothless then turned his head towards the ocean. Hiccup gave a concerned look and instructed them to stay on the island and to steer clear of the Whispering Deaths or worse The Screaming Death. HE told them that he was going to go out for a raid and that he would be back at night.

The raid target was Berk that night. He had asked if anyone wanted to send a letter to their families but they said that since their families had already abandoned them they saw no reason to treat them any more than what they got now. So he flew to Berk with a small bundle of cloth in his arms, Astrid may not have a message for her parents, but he does.

The raid was not bad, there were only a dozen or so dragons. There was still no sign of a Night Fury either.

Stoick the Vast was wrestling down a Gronckle and had his axe raised for the kill when he heard the infamous whistling noise of a Night Fury followed by screams from other villagers. A plasma blast was shot in the ground between him and his prey and he was knocked back to the ground. The Gronckle took this as her chance and took off without sparing the man another glance. He then looked up to see the familiar jet black dragon his village had come to hate so much along with the rider.

Stoick took a hammer from his belt and began swinging at the Dragon Master but he skillfully parried him and launched a flurry of strikes himself and sweeped the Burly Chief off his feet and raised a sword inches away from cutting the man's beard. The chief bellowed," You took the girl so why are you still raiding us? And here I hoped you scumbag dragon sympathizers can uphold a deal." And when the man in question stayed silent, he shouted," WE HAD A DEAL!"

"Key word in that sentence is HAD. But you broke the deal off by threatening me and I made the deal with her and not you."

"What have you done to her? If you dare lay a finger on her I will see to your death myself!" he turned his head to see Astrid's father, seething in rage.

"It may be too late for that though." He said dryly and tossed him the piece of cloth he had been carrying. HE recognized it as the cloth they had presented her to him in and he began," Why you….."

"Actually you want to know something? I asked your daughter if she had any words for you and all she replied was 'They abandoned me so why should I care about them' her words not mine," Astrid's father seemed faltered by this but regained his cold façade and said," And why should I believe a treasonous man like you?" He charged towards him with a mace while shouting a warcry.

"Your belief doesn't matter to me, but right now your daughter is mine!" he withdrew his sword from Stoick's neck and knocked the man back and managed to escape on Toothless.

Astrid had been preparing a simple bread and fish meal for her 'master' for when he got back from the raid. She almost burned the fish and it was slightly overcooked. She placed it on a plate on the table along with a small mug of water. She then waited patiently for her 'master' to arrive. She must have fallen asleep because she woke up to a pair of bright forest green eyes. She straightened immediately

"Welcome back, I've prepared your food in the kitchen."

"Have you eaten yet?" he asked her," You look a bit pale."

"I haven't eaten yet, Sir Alcarondas." She replied respectfully. She didn't want to anger him by taking his food without permission. She is after all only a thrall. Her friends were guests so they ate without risking his wrath but she, on the other hand, didn't want to push her luck and risk his wrath.

"Then I must demand you to take a loaf of bread and eat with me."

She did as she was commanded, happy that she wouldn't go to bed with a growling stomach. She ate the bread silently with the man and he got up when he finished and started for his room. She got up and walked towards her room in the attic when she heard thrashing from his room. She dared herself to knock and peek inside. She then asked quietly'

"Is there anything else I could do for you, Sir?"

"Oh Astrid, It is nothing, just having a nightmare. Can you stay please?"

"Of course, Sir."

"Stop with the formalities. Come here." He motioned for her to climb onto the bed with him, which she did and cradled her to an embrace. She felt warm and close to her master and captor. And it was at that moment she realized –oh sweet Odin- she was falling for the man who owns her.

**A/N: A pretty uneventful chapter but quite important, nothing too crazy happens in this chapter though and well Snotlout has not met Hookfang yet. How do you think their meeting should be?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: A bunch of fluff for this chapter, not very plot-important but oh well. The song was a clip from the 1997 song 'Tell Him' by Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. In this scenario Astrid was Celine and the 'Mysterious voice' was Barbra.**

She woke up in a daze. Everything felt so fuzzy around her. She looked around the unfamiliar room and suddenly, as quick as rock hits a pond, realization dawned upon her. Then the memories of the night before came crashing down on her. Before she could think more on it a voice stirred her back to the present.

"Good Morning." A friendly yet quite raspy voice rang through the room. She looked up to see the Dragon Master sitting beside a workbench reading a book. She got up and muttered a greeting under her breath and stormed out of the room, fleeing the tense situation.

Once she was out, she blushed as she remembered his warm body pressed against hers. She fluttered at the thought and wondered how often she could fell— wait, no, no don't think about it Astrid. He is your master for Thor's sake. Only one person could be allowed in her heart so deeply, and that boy was dead for a long time.

Behind her she heard of a thump and figured that the Dragon Master must have gone back to sleep. She went and looked for her friends and saw them playing in the yard with their dragons, except for Snotlout. She scurried towards Stormfly who was sitting beside her friends. They turned towards her and threw questioning glances towards her. Then, Ruffnut smirked mischievously and asked,

"So how is your 'master'? Or maybe the better question is, how good is he in bed?" Ruff wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at that.

Astrid blushed a deep shade of pink. Her friends laughed at her flustered form.

"We didn't do anything of the sort! He had a nightmare and I just stayed with him to calm his nerves," she defended herself.

"Oh sureeeee, I've heard sex is great for relaxing your muscles especially after a raid." Ruffnut teased, the mischievous smirk never leaving her face.

"You know if you get pregnant, can I name the baby?" Tuffnut requested with a pleading look.

Fishlegs was the only one who sensed her discomfort, as the other two were complete morons, and coaxed them to stop.

"Thanks Fish," Astrid muttered loudly enough for only the person in question to hear.

Then they went back to grooming and petting their dragons. Astrid hummed a low tune and after a while asked,

"Where is Snotlout? Is he still trying to look for that Monstrous NIghtma-"

"AHHHHH!" a scream echoed through the trees and the young adults shared worried looks. SNotlout came running to them with his butt on fire. Astrid quickly got up and rushed to get a bucket of water while the rest went on to teasing Snotlout about his burning pants. He told them all the story of how he met the Monstrous Nightmare and tried to ride him, but it covered its entire body in flames and ended up with a scorched Snotlout.

Then the Dragon Master appeared from the house and the small crowd immediately fell silent. His presence seemed to slightly intimidate her friends. Astrid went up to him and asked, in her servant tone, if there was anything he wanted. He dismissed her and announced,

"Okay guys, get yourselves ready cuz' we are going flying today," followed by an eruption of cheers from the rest.

"What about me?" Snotlout asked," I haven't bonded with a dragon yet."

"You are just incompetent, I don't want to make everyone else wait for your sorry ass," the Dragon Master retorted coldly. He never seemed to like Snotlout, for whatever reason.

Snotlout pouted in defeat, knowing that lashing out would probably end up horribly for him. He was lucky that he wasn't dead yet, after all if not for him he would be.

The Dragon Master gave out advices on how to ride comfortably, not that they had never done this before but they might as well listen to the expert. Astrid followed his advices and got on top of he beautiful, sky-blue Nadder. They then shot off into the sky and the air hit their faces, hard, scraming could be heard except from the Dragon Master and Fishlegs, as one was experienced and the other was riding a Gronckle, a stable and slow dragon.

The twins then separated themselves from the group to test their 'explosives'. The Dragon Master ordered them not to do any irreparable damage which was responded to by a snort and a 'I keep no promises'. He sighed in exasperation and Fishlegs volunteered himself to go after them to keep them in line.

Astrid shot him a pleading look not to leave her and the Dragon Master alone but Fishlegs ignored her and went after the twins.

The atmosphere around them grew eerily quiet and very awkward. The Dragon Master was the fist one to speak up and stuutered,"

"So… can we uhmmm, go for a race?"

"Sure, although I doubt I would win."

"Don't worry, I will take it easy on you. First ont to reach home wins!"

They accelerated and sped through the island and soon the house was in sight. Then the Dragon Master lowered his body and Toothless whizzed past, the impact of the air causing Stormfly to lose balance and slow down. Unsurprisingly, the Dragon Master won and laughed when she landed.

"At least you tried. Hahhaaa" he mused.

Then he turned on his heel and walked inside the house. Astrid watched him and her stare transfixed on the door he went through. Then a voice shook her from a trance. It came from the woods, she ran out to see who it was. Then she reached a cove, not unlike the one past Raven Point back on Berk. She sat down in the cove, pondering over her thoughts about the Dragon Master.

She idly looked at her finger and imagined what it would be like to have a ring on it. She was not stupid, she knew what this bubbly feeling in her chest whenever she was around him meant. But she knew it was wrong. She was his servant, then her thoughts wandered back to the first day, of how gentle and soft his lips were. Yet he seemed so familiar. There was something about him that gave Astrid a sense of security.

A voice then sang out from within the trees in a high pitched voice,

"Go and tell him what you feel, I bet that he reciprocates those feelings." The mysterious voice said.

She ran out from the forest back into the house. She decided to take a bath first to look her best and when she walked in, a sight awaited her. A man who could only be the Dragon Master and yet his mask was absent. On closer inspection she found that he was a handsome young man around her age, with a mop of tousled auburn hair, forest, green eyes which bore a familiar shade, freckles covering his face and a sharp jawline. He looked up at her when he realized he was being watched and soon she realized why the man in front of her seemed all too familiar.

Hiccup was not dead.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was not dead!

**A/N: Who is excited for the next chapter? It might be a few days until I upload the next chapter though. Be patient LOL**


	8. Hiccup?

**A/N: This chapter has a little bit of mature stuff in it although it is not very graphic and so proceed with a little caution. Basically not safe for kids under age of ten. **

"Hiccup?" Her voice was no more than a whisper but from the way the man in question twitched he must have heard it.

"OUT! I'll explain things later," he growled.

Astrid made no move to comply to that order and just stood there, not knowing what to feel. A thousand emotions overtook her, anger at what he had caused, relief to see him alive, joy that he was her master, and fear for what he may had become.

Hiccup star to grow impatient and quipped with a smirk," Alright, either you get out while I have my bath or you can come and take one with me."

Astrid was brought back to the realm of the living then and blushed as she realized she was still staring at his naked top. She turned on her heel with a huff and walked out of the bath.

Once she was out she immediately broke down and started breathing very quickly. Her emotions flooded through her again but it seemed as if it would not settle. Then, Hiccup walked out, fully clothed, and when he saw her he greeted," Hello Astrid."

She looked up and promptly hugged him. But as soon as the hug began, it ended. She pulled to her senses and pushed him away as she remembered everything that he has done to the village. Hiccup saw her face a shade of red and her eyes were so full of anger and hate that her glare almost tore a hole through him. He braced himself, for he knew what was to come.

_SLAP_

She had slapped him right across the face. He didn't flinch at all, he raised a hand to where she had slapped him and held her gaze. The pain didn't seem to bother him at all, he gave her a look as if challenging her to continue.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you, Hiccup?" She almost yelled as she backed away from him. "All this time I have been mourning you for NOTHING? You have been attacking your village all this time? Harming your people?

At that his entire expression changed. He stared at her and she flinched, not being able to take the look he was currently giving her.

He scoffed and said," My people? You mean the people who tortured me for years? The ones who bullied, ostracized and discriminated me for years? The same people who gave you away freely to be tortured, raped, or murdered?" He started to walk towards her slowly "They never would have accepted me for who I was, so tell me why would I care for _them?_

"They were your people once too. And you are the reason I was sent in the first place!" she yelled back at him

"They are no longer my people." He turned and walked away from her," and here I thought you could change, it seems I was wrong."

Anger boiled in her abdomen, when she could not keep it any longer she let it out. " I thought you were dead!" she said, spite and anger lacing her every word.

He stopped walking away but didn't turn to face her.

She continued," You let me think that you were taken and killed by the dragons! How could someone as kind, smart, caring and sarcastic such as Hiccup would become so… so _evil_!"

He turned around to face her, annoyance clear in his eyes. "Evil? Really? If I was so evil then tell me why did I save you and your friends?" She didn't have an answer to that and contemplated it for a moment but her anger brushed it aside. So he continued, "I was made into the person I am now as a result of what you and your precious tribe did to me. You think I am a monster, but I am not. YOU are a monster and you also turned me into one."

And when she didn't make a move to respond, he turned on his heel and started to walk away again.

Astrid then spoke weakly, loud enough only so he could hear. "I would rather be dead than be with you." She knew she didn't mean it, but she was just so angry she had to let it out. In addition, this is Hiccup, he hasn't killed anyone before, at least not in her knowledge, so why would he start now?

Then, Hiccup turned and walked towards her with quick and long strides. Before she could react he gripped he throat and slammed her towards a wall, unsheathing his blade (without igniting it) and pressed the flat side of it against her chest. "I am sorry but I am not giving you the choice of death."

He ignited his blade and it burned her dress. He placed her sword at her neck and freed the one gripping her to a wall, laying her down with a thud, then he tore through her breast bindings. He ignored her pleads and sobs for it to stop. He groped one of her breast and gently sucked on the other. He laid her on the ground and forced her legs apart. She tried resisting him but he was too strong and the sword on her neck kept her from moving too much.

"Pull up your skirt."  
"_What?"_ She weakly responded. She knew what he meant but she pretended not to, trying to delay the inevitable.

"I said, pull your skirt up." He said in his commanding tone. He pressed the sword closer to her neck. She complied and slowly lifted her skirt. When it was about halfway through the thigh he swatted her hand away and pulled it to her waist, revealing her undergarment.

She wreathed and struggled beneath him, fighting back her tears and said in a very shaky tone," No no no, Hiccup please. You wouldn't."

"Of course I wouldn't." He sat straight up and stared at her, keeping his sword at her neck. "But let us not forget that I am the master here, you and your friends are all dependent on me. You have nowhere to go, you have been banished and so you are stuck with me. It seems you don't understand that I can do whatever I want to you or any of your friends. It is your choice if you want to take it as a threat or a reminder."

She nodded mutely, still trying to recover from the shock of the thought of almost being raped.

"Good" came his reply. He stood and walked away, leaving a dazed Astrid behind.

As he walked out, he couldn't help but think of how it would feel if he actually went through with it. He knew it was probably an idea that might get him killed in his sleep but a part of him mad him feel as if he wanted to just go back and take her there and then. He sighed and called for Toothless. A sleek, black dragon appeared from the roof of the house and he boarded it. He soared up, desperately needing to clear his thoughts for a while.

Back in the house, Astrid lay there for a while, pondering over what just happened and still trying to recover from the continuous shocks she received. As she made her way to get up and covered her breasts her friends walked inside of the house, talking about something she didn't quite catch but they stopped when they saw her and took in her appearance.

They all ran towards her, Ruffnut trying to help her up.

"What happened Astrid?"

When she didn't answer, her friend shared grim looks connecting the dots seeing how obviouslt stricken she was.

"Oh no, did he rape you?" Ruffnut asked, concern apparent in her voice.

"I am so going to kill him!" Snotlout fumed and turned to find him when his arm was held back by Astrid

"Don't" she said in a weak voice. "You won't stand a chance and plus we are all completely depended on him. He didn't rape me, he just threatened to do so if there is anymore funny business." She herself didn't know why she was hiding Hiccup's identity but she did it anyways.

"What funny business exactly?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

"Well, I may have yelled at him and slapped him across the face. _Hard_." She said with a bit of regret.

"And why would you do that?" he asked again.

She was stuck now. She couldn't come up with a believable response and so she decided to just tell them.

"I saw his face. The Dragon Master is Hiccup." Her voice noticeably faltering when she uttered the last word.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I am afraid it may be another week or so until the next one but I will try my best to write as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and please leave a review on how you want the next chapter to be. Still rated T though.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Oh God. I'm sorry for the wait its been almost 4 weeks since my last update. Oh well, here is another chapter for you.**

* * *

"Say, what?!" Snotlout asked, disbelief evident on his features.

"Hiccup is alive?" The twins asked simultaneously. They were both confused at the news.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Snotlout pointed out," We found his bloody shirt remember! Hiccup is dead, you were definitely hallucinating."

"But we never found the body….." Fishlegs muttered matter of factly, he had been quiet the entire time, seemingly deep in thought. "Wasn't there also some black scales on the cove? Now that I think of it, it matches a Night Fury's scales. Maybe he ran away, faking his own death."

"I was thinking the same too, Fish. But it just doesn't make any sense anymore." Astrid shook her head, rubbing her temples in frustration and confusion.

"Exactly, so what if we never found the body? The Night Fury might have eaten him whole! Which means that Dragon Master murdered Hiccup." Snotlout had already set his mind on Hiccup being dead.

"I don't think so. He admitted that he was Hiccup and the way he spoke was definitely him. His words were genuine too. Unless Hiccup has grown to be an amazing liar there is no way what he said was false."

"But Hiccup would never turn his back on his own people like that!" Tuffnut said.

"I agree with the idiot." Ruff agreed, taunting her brother.

"Who are you calling an idiot!" Tuffnut yelled back.

"Of course you, muttonhead!" Ruff replied

"Oh yeah? Butt-elf!" Tuff answered.

Before Ruff could retort again though, Astrid yelled," Enough!"

"We are discussing something so stop fighting like children!" She admonished the prankster twins.

"You know, I think this makes sense." FIshlegs piped up, brows furrowing as he was thinking.

"How does this make any sort of sense, Fishface?" Snotlout sneered, he was still incredulous about this entire affair.

"Just think about it, we have always shunned and teased Hiccup ever since I could remember," Fishlegs said, Astrid hung her head down in shame. _Did I really do that to him? Did we always bully him without anyone stepping in to help? Why did I never help him? _She thought, ashamed of herself at her conclusion. _I was afraid that they would shun and bully me too, I was a coward. Hoffersons were meant to be fearless yet here I am afraid of being teased_. She shook her head ,eyes hung on the floor.

"So he never really had a reason to stay. We made life a living hell for him, and so when he found a friend within the Night Fury he took the chance to escape the hellhole we put him in." Fishlegs shrugged, he was also quite confused but was surprisingly still able to try to make sense of it all.

They were quiet for some time, pondering on what Fishlegs just said. Astrid felt conflicted, she didn't know that to fell towards the boy- no, man- who just threatened to rape her yet also saved her friends from certain death. She still somehow felt attracted to him, after all she must admit, he was kinda handsome now, he was no longer scrawny, his arms were strong when he held her, not that she had noticed. But after all, he was right, he was her master and they were currently dependent on him. Hel, she wouldn't even be able to stop him if he did anything towards her. She hated the feeling of the lack of control on how her life was to go but she was somehow glad that Hiccup was steering. She somehow still trusted him. He wouldn't have gone out of his way to help the if he didn't care right? He wouldn't have stopped just now if he didn't care about her feelings either. Or was it just the fact that she was unattractive to him? Does he not like her? Is she too ugly for his tastes? She felt her feminine insecurities nagging at her. She told herself that she should be relieved if she was unattractive for him, that would mean that he wouldn't abuse her sexually,

Right?

She honestly didn't know the answer to that question but she didn't feel too relieved, Why? It can't be that she still has feelings for him, could it? Or maybe it was because she heard of male lusting and the fact that she was ugly might not have made a difference at all to him. And maybe he would even rape her intentionally to get back at her for all she has done to him in the past. Because if that is so, she wouldn't fight it, she knew what she did was wrong and if that was the way he wanted to take his revenge on her, she wouldn't stop him. But why is she feeling that even if he did, it won't be so abd after all. Why was she thinking these things? Her mind was a complete mess right now, she couldn't fathom her own feelings at all, everything is just too messy and jumbled. She can't think clearly right now, she felt like someone ripped her apart and put her pieces of her mind back together in all the wrong places.

Then the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the hall. She snapped out of her reverie, to find Hiccup without his mask on a couple of feet away from them. He glared at them all, when his eyes landed on Astrid, she felt like he was drilling a hole through her head. His icy glare froze her and she didn't move nor speak, actually, no one moved for a how many minutes she didn't know, she was too caught up with the glare Hiccup was giving them, his emerald hues turned stone cold. Her mind was blank, time seemed to stay at a standstill, and only when Hiccup finally spoke up after what felt like an eternity, a little bit of the tension was lifted.

"I don't remember telling you that you are allowed to share my identity, Astrid." He spat out the last word, full of venom and spite. She felt tears burn in the corner of her eyes at the realization of his immense hatred towards her must be. She just had to say all those things to him!

"I don't remember you telling me that I wasn't allowed either." Astrid gathered enough courage to sass him back and stood her ground, glaring at him although his glare was definitely much harsher in comparison to hers. She bit her bottom lip, the atmosphere around them tensed as her friends waited to what Hiccup would say next.

Then Hiccup did the unexpected, he laughed. Laughed out loud. When he calmed down, and his eyes were set back on the sets of confused eyes staring at him as if he was mad, he had an amused twinkle in his eye, and it also looked slightly mischievous.

"Really, Astrid? Do I have to remind you the last time you were that disrespectful?" Hiccup threw her a challenging gaze, he was no longer amused now, she could sense that he was dead serious.

"No, I'm sorry, Hiccup." Astrid quickly said before he snapped and punished her, knowing all too well that he was perfectly capable of defeating all of them in combat, especially given that they were unarmed.

"No you are not Astrid. And you should know that it is useless at this point." Hiccup said, his voice laced with barely suppressed anger.

"I am really sorry, not just for disrespecting you but also for the bullying and pain I've caused over the years." She said genuinely, her eyes were hung down in shame and she waited nervously for Hiccup's reaction. Hiccup seemed to be considering how genuine she was, given the thoughtful look on his face.

* * *

**A/N: And here is another chapter, hope you enjoy it and the next chapter would be uploaded at God knows when. Sorry for my irregular updating schedule. I am sometimes too lazy to write a new chapter especially for the fact that I rarely get any freetime lately. Anyways, please leave a review and I if you have any suggestions on how to improve my writing please feel free to criticize my work, although I hope that you understand the only criticism I want are the constructive ones and not the ones in which you say, 'Hey this story sucks, you are a horrible writer, you should just write it like this….'. I will not accept that kind of criticism and please try not to tell me what to write unless I ask on your opinions and even that I will not change any major plotpoints just because you people want me too. **

**Goodbye and have a nice day!**


	10. Sins of a Father

**A/N: Here is another chapter, hope you like it. It is on Stoick's POV on Berk. So glad I could make it in a week.**

* * *

Back in Berk, Haddock House

Chief Stoick 'the Vast' Haddock was feeling miserable. More miserable than he had ever been before. He had lose his wife and son to dragons and his nephew has cavorted to the side of those very same monsters. The raids are raging on, and the Dragon Master continues to be a thorn at his side. His offering clearly didn't work.

He sips some mead from his mug, and groans in frustration. He rubs his temples, sighing. He regretted sending Astrid off. Not only did it lead to the loss of his heir, which is currently the cause of a lot of unrest in his tribe, he had also lost his 'punching bag'. He no longe had anyone to take his frustration and anger out upon.

He picks himself up and stands, he strolls over to the stairs, staring at the loft. His son's room. He walks up the stairs slowly. He reaches the top and looks at the door. He brushes the dust off the handle and opens it. The door creaks, revealing his son's room. It was dusty and worn. Clearly abandoned and uncared for. He turns his gaze around the room until his gaze finally rests on the desk. He strolls over, and notices a book on its edge.

He picks the books up, and read it's title. _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third's Journal_. He sits down on the small stool and begins reading its contents.

He was shocked when he saw what was inside. A drawing of some sort. He unfolds it to take a good look and gasps. Staring back at him was a portrait of Astrid in her early teens. On the sidelines was written the words "Most beautiful maiden on Midgard." He uttered an incredulous noise. The more he read, the more sense it made.

His son had a crush on Astrid Hofferson. And he had wronged that very same girl on many occasions the same way his son had been wronged. And he was so blind to it. He didn't see how much his son had suffered just for being scrawny and weak. He felt even more miserable, knowing that he had sent away the girl who his son loved. The very same girl who he had mistreated. He brings his hands up on his face.

He had just read how much his son had suffered and that his son probably hated him for it.

"Oh Gods, what have I done?" He groaned in frustration.

"You know, reading another's private diary is very disrespectful." A mocking voice came from behind him. He stood up immediately and turned around, noticing a strange man dressed in white at his door. He didn't even realize his door was opened. He looked around to search for a weapon and spotted a dagger. He took it and pointed it at the intruder.

"Who are you?" He demanded, his voice cold and stony.

The man in question smiled, and cocked an amused eyebrow.

"It is not important. You should really be asking if I am here to kill you or not." The man replied with an unpleasant smirk across his features.

"And how am I supposed to believe that? Even if you are here to kill me you wouldn't be able to." Stoick replied confidently.

"What makes you think that?" The man asked

"Because you are unarmed and scrawny." Stoick replied.

"You say that as if a sword is the only way to kill someone. And I assure you, my hands are more than enough to kill someone like you." He cackled in a challenging tone.

Stoick threw his dagger at the man who simply pinched it, stopping it in mid-air. Stoick gaped at the man, who merely chuckled.

"Seriously? You threw away your only weapon just like that?"

Stoick couldn't respond, he was shocked that the man was able to stop a dagger, he threw it quickly, the man shouldn't have been able to dodge. Who was he?

"Why are you here?" Stoick growled out.

"I'm here to taunt you of course.." He replied with an amused glint in his words and a smile tugging at his lips. Oh how badly he wanted to punch that smile off his face.

"SO since you have read his diary, do you now know why he left you? Because you always shunned and scolded him, always looking at him with nothing but disappointment. You must know that it is your fault he is gone." The man taunted.

"It is the dragons fault!" Stoick roared. "They took my son and wife from me. And one day, I will make them pay. I will find that damned nest and I will destroy it. I will not rest until I have killed every last dragon in this world."

"Really? Then that is a shame. I guess if that is what you want, I cant convince you otherwise." He sighed, and whistled a tune.

Suddenly, the floor shook under him and it collapsed. He recovered from the fall only to find his house in flames, and that very same man atop a large white dragon with red eyes, similar to a whispering death but larger, much larger.

"Farewell, may we meet again." The man said and flew off on the dragon into the horizon.

Stoick gritted his teeth in fury, looking around at the remnants of his house, the memories of his son and wife burnt to nothing but ash. He let out a primal roar, yet amidst all that anguish he contemplated on the man's words. Did I drive Hiccup away? And he realized that he did, if not physically then mentally. He estranged his own son. What would Valka say to him? And he also estranged the girl his son had loved. What would Hiccup had said if he was here now?

His mind didn't even register the screams of panic around him, his friend, Gobber helping him up. And carrying him over to the Great Hall.

That night for the second time of his life, he slept in the Great Hall. His first being when Valka was taken by that owl-faced dragon. He shoved aside his miserable thoughts and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next day, he awoke late. He found that most of the village had gathered in the Great Hall, their noises was the sound that woke him. He sat up straight, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

HE raised his hand up to silence the crowd. "Settle down!" he boomed.

"Chief, what happened?" One of the men gathered asked him.

"A man, whose identity I do not know, appeared in my house and burnt it. Then he fled on a dragon." Stoick answered tiredly, voice brimming with hatred and anguish.

"I lost all that was left of my family due to that dragon-loving maniac." He continued. He could still hear the maniac's laughter ringing in his ears.

"I will bet my undies that that was the Dragon Master!" Gobber yelled through the crowd.

"No it was not the Dragon Master. His voice was different, and his dragon was also different. The Dragon Master has only ever ridden a Night Fury after all." Stoick replied.

The crowd erupted in murmurs of confusion.

"Then who is he?" Spitelout asked

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I do NOT know!" Stoick yelled back in exasperation.

"Now I need some moments of peace and quiet and I would very like it if you could get to rebuilding my house as soon as possible. I need to rest and that is final. You are dismissed." Stoick said.

The Vikings all went back to their daily lives, a few stonemasons and carpenters getting to work and rebuilding the chief's home. The Chief himself was sitting quietly in the Great Hall, thinking.

Gobber plopped down beside him and said," Okay what did he say to you?"

"He told me that I was the one who drove Hiccup away. And after reading his diary, I realized he was right." He sighed before continuing," I have been a terrible father, Gobber."

"That you have been. Ever since Valka died, you seemed to have stopped caring for the boy. But he is in the past now, don't get yourself stuck in the past." Gobber said o him in a sage-like tone.

"Not only that, but I have done the same to Astrid. Hiccup loved her, and I made her suffer." Stoick shook his head in frustration. "What would he say to me if he was here right now, Gobber?"

"Did you really just realize that the lad had a crush on the Hofferson gal'? You are dumber than I thought!' Gobber exclaimed, clearly surprised at his friends' ignorance.

"I actually didn't know, I wish I can take it all back now. But it is too late, I drove her away and now she is with that maniac of a man who we call the Dragon Master. She sided with him over her own tribe. I drove away my son and the girl he loved." He exhaled sharply." What do I do, Gobber?"

* * *

**A/N: Did you like it? The man was, for clarification, not Hiccup but was Hiccup's 'mentor'. As always I welcome any reviews and Constructive Criticism you have for me. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I am back from vacation! Yayyyy. Oh well sry for the wait but here is another chapter for you… Back to Hiccup and the gang this time!**

**To CajunBear73: Yeah lol, Stoick is just a mess right now, and I positively feel bad for the guy (Not really though).**

**To sup8pdct: He will come around... eventually. As for the diary... Was it really lost? Who knows? RAFO, i guess.**

* * *

"You seem genuine in your apologies." Hiccup replied after a few seconds. The tension began to slightly fade. "Although I cant tell if you just got better at lying. We shall see I guess." And with that he walked away.

The Viking teens let out a relieved sigh.

"This entire situation is so confusing and tiring. I'm going to bed." Snotlout yawned and strolled to his room.

"You know what I think I am going to go to bed as well." Ruffnut said before turning away. Tuffnut soon followed and now it is just Fishlegs and Astrid in the hallway.

"It doesn't really change anything for us does it? We are still under his mercy so it seems we should not go against him anymore."

"You are right, Fish. But what should we do? What if Stoick finds out?" Astrid asked.

"I don't know, I really don't know…" Fishlegs replied.

"Lets just wait and see. I mean dragons aren't mindless monsters so maybe he is right. Do you think we may be able to convince Berk about the dragons?"

"I don't think we can. There is nothing more stubborn than a village of spiteful Vikings. I think we should sleep for now. Clear our heads. We will discuss it again tomorrow." Fishlegs stated.

"Alright. Good night Fishlegs."

"Good night"

* * *

The following morning,

Astrid was sitting by the fireplace reading a book, the twins were boiling new recipes for explosives, Fishlegs was playing a game of Maces and Talons with Hiccup who didn't seem angry anymore while Snotlout was being obnoxious, as always…

It was a rather peaceful day when they heard the knocking of Hiccup's front door.

Astrid opened the door to a middle-aged woman with auburn hair. She actually looked a lot like Hiccup.

"Uhmm hello? Who are you?" Astrid asked the woman after one long moment of staring at the other.

"Hiccup why is this place suddenly as crowded as a circus? I told you to stop inviting weird people to your house all the time! Remember what happened last time you invited strangers here?" She demanded.

"Oh hey Mom." Astrid was shocked to say the least. She heard gasps from her friends too. Wasn't Hiccup's mother taken away by a dragon- and then it clicked. "These are not strangers, they are umm, *stutters*"

"They are the teens from Berk." Another voice called out matter of factly just behind Hiccup's mother. Astrid turned to look startled, he didn't even notice him there.

"Berk? Are you out of your mind? What possessed you to invite Berkians," she spat the name out like it was poison," into your home?!"

"It is a long story Mom. One that I do not feel like sharing today." Hiccup replied in a bored tone.

The newcomer glanced worriedly at the auburn haired woman. She looked like she was about to burst. Thankfully, he stepped in before Hiccup or his mother exploded.

"Now, now we are all friends here. And friends must stick together! United we fall, Divided we stand!" He said in an extremely cheerfulmanner.

"And who are you?" Fishlegs asked the newcomer in white.

"Oh don't mind me, I am just the eccentric uncle." He laughed loudly.

' But you are older than the hills so maybe great-granduncle?" Hiccup commented snidely.

The man made an overexaggerated show of hurt and heartfelt expressions. "Ohh you are so mean to me. I'm so hurt." He sobbed, pretending to dab his tears away.

"Stay hurt then." Hiccup replied tersely. His theatrics can be so exhausting sometimes.

The man cried out and broke down on the floor, Hiccup and Valka gave an audible sigh. The man rose up again, completely fine.

"Well, we have a highly inconvenient issue on our hands right now! I would tell you all about it, but I still do not know the details myself." He spun around and disappeared over the corner.

Astrid and the others were left quite dumbfounded. _What just happened?._

"Don't mind him, he is extremely eccentric." Hiccup said to them with an exasperated tone, although Astrid could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"So why are you here, Mom?" Hiccup asked Valka and gave her a pointed look. She was a busy person, that he knew. He himself already had to deal with the weekly dragon raids on the Viking villages except for the breeding season when most of the dragons would go to mate (which is why there are very few dragons on the island). But his mother works against the hunters all year round. She rarely visits him unless something important has happened.

Valka pursed her lips before answering," There is something we need to discuss…" She looked around the room at the others and added,"…privately."

"Alright, let's talk in my room." Hiccup got up and walked over to his chambers.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Ymir was already in his room inspecting a glass hour, although he seemed to be looking through it than at it. He turned and smiled when Hiccup and Valka entered the room and motioned them to sit around the table.

"We have much to discuss." He said seriously, once they were all seated. He looked towards the door, and nodded content.

"Your friends aren't actually trying to eavesdrop." He said.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Hiccup asked a bit impatiently.

"The hunters are getting smarter, they have seized control over the city of Yarnezza and replaced the person I put in charge there. The new leader wants to eradicate all the dragons and with the city's support he build a fleet of ships and an army of hunters all under a single banner. Our enemies have all united against us." Ymir stated grimly.

"Who is leading them?" Hiccup asked

"A man named Drago Bludvist. He was raised in the Archipelago and his village was decimated by the dragons. He wants to enslave all of them and conquer the world with an army of dragons. I am doing my best but everyday his influence and power increases, the amount of dragons he has under his control is increasing as well." Valka said.

"But how? How does he control these dragons?" Hiccup asked, a bit confused.

"My spies report to me of a huge dragon. An Alpha. The species is still unidentified but I have a suspicion that it is a Bewilderbeast, just like the one in the Dragon Sanctuary. The point is, we need more people that can help us. I can provide all the intel and advice you need but I am forbidden from interfering too much directly. I can plot and wreak havoc to their society from the inside and I am working on it but there is only so much that that could do. We need to destroy the Red Death and try to convince the entire Archipelago that dragons are kind and gentle creatures. That way we can rally them and create a united front against Drago." Ymir said.

"Easier said than done, there is nothing more stubborn than a Vikings." Valka shook her head slowly.

"From what Ymir said though, it seems we do not have a choice do we?" Hiccup asked "Why don't we just ask your Bewilderbeast to fight the Red Death? He is bigger than her, he could easily take her. Then we can start working on convincing the Vikings." Hiccup suggested.

"No." Valka said tersely and firmly.

"What do you mean 'No'? We need his help to beat the Red Death!" Hiccup said a bit too loudly.

"I will not create a dissent between nests! This will create a Dragon Civil War!" Valka said just as loudly.

"If we do not do this then the Dragon Wars would continue!" Hiccup shouted, his anger rising.

"I will not force the Bewilderbeast to kill his own kind!" Valka shouted back, her own temper starting to flare. _Why couldn't he understand?_

"We do not need to do that. I know all of its weaknesses. We might still be able to kill the Red Death even without the Bewilderbeast. It will be a tough fight but you can win. Night Furies are fast and agile, they can also resist its control. It would take a bit of luck and ingenuity but it can be done." Ymir supplied, waving a hand dismissively. "The hard part is to get the humans to understand that dragons aren't monsters. And what better way to do that than by using your friends first? If we show the Vikings that some of their own has started to understand the Dragons more will become convinced. I know Stoick hates the dragons but if you two come back to him and explain everything he might be a bit more inclined to believe us. If not well, we can always make sure he trips down a stairway and install you as the next Berkian chief." He said, smirking at the last bit.

"You will not lay a hand on Stoick." Valka said firmly, glaring at him. Hiccup was too deep in thought at his suggestion to notice the last part and so he didn't react much.

"Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I may or may not have 'talked' to Stoick." Ymir said, making a quotation mark with his fingers at the word "talked".

Hiccup sighed, "What did you say to him?"

"Oh just taunted him a bit, might have burnt his house along with what he thinks is the last memories of you two."

"Great.." Hiccup muttered.

* * *

**A/N: Alright here is another chapter, I won't go on another vacation in a long time so I will (hopefully) upload another chapter next week. And the plot starts to thicken. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi I'm posting this chapter a bit earlier because I might not have the time to do so later. This coming week will be extremely busy for me so I will not promise that there will be another chapter next week. **

**To ThermiteHawk: Don't worry, I know my Norse mythology. Is it supposed to lead to something? I don't know, RAFO!**

**To CajunBear73: Well accidents are quite common in those days so if Stoick proves to be a hindrance to Ymir's own goals, I'll leave it at that.**

* * *

"Hiccup, what did you do?" Ymir asked Hiccup, putting his cup down. Hiccup was attentively watching the other Teens a hint of guilt stretched across his features whenever his eyes landed on Astrid.

"Uhh, I might have done something wrong which I am starting to regret." Hiccup said.

Ymir sighed and looked at Hiccup, who was now staring back, regret and guilt piled over his face.

"I see.." Ymir said sagely after he figured out what must have happened. "Maybe you should apologize to her for that scare. Women like her hate the loss of control over their own lives, they absolutely loathe being exposed and the feeling of vulnerability."

"You seem to know everything." Hiccup murmured, head dipped low in thought.

"I can tell a person's character quite quickly."

"There is so much I don't understand still, I've learned a lot but I still don't know anything." Hiccup complained.

"While it is true you have learned, you will soon find out that it is experience that truly matters. You have learned yes, but you lack the experience. I am old, Hiccup. I can tell everything just by looking at it. You are still young, you fight battles on the battlefield against enemies whom you know. Much like the Viking way of life. But this life you are treading isn't going to be like that. My knowledge is the thing that keeps me powerful still. Although my physical prowess is powerful, I too was once a human who gained knowledge and enlightenment, and ascended into Godhood. To me the world is just a board, either you are a player or you are a piece. You need to always anticipate your opponents next move, search for every possible scenario before you do something, that way you will never be surprised. And of course being well informed with the use of spies will be very important as well."

"Plotting has never been my forte though." Hiccup muttered looking Ymir straight in the eye.

"It might not be necessary against people like Drago Bludvist but trust me, Drago is just a piece, someone is playing him, feeding him information and manipulating him. At the end, if Drago succeeds I highly doubt he would be the true ruler." Ymir said

"Then who is playing Drago Bludvist?" Hiccup asked

Ymir smiled, a smile that looked as if he knew every secret in the world.

"That, my dear, you must find out yourself. If you want to be able to end the threat to Dragons once and for all you will need to learn. You are my apprentice, and it is time for you to learn how to fight with your mind. After all there is always room to improve."

* * *

Hiccup found Astrid washing the dished with Valka in the kitchen.

Valka noticed Hiccup's expression and decided this was none of her business and so walked out of the kitchen, leaving the two teens alone in the kitchen.

They were silent for a few minutes. After some time, Hiccup broke the silence,

"I am sorry." He said simply, eyes hung down.

"For what exactly?" Astrid asked inquisitively.

"For assaulting you and scaring you." He anwered.

"I wasn't scared." Astrid said defiantly.

"Right…" Hiccup rolled his eyes, the tension in the room starting to lift somewhat.

"Well, Im sorry too, I said some very rude and horrible things to you." Astrid said sincerely.

"Apology accepted." Hiccup said with a smile. "Should we shake on it?"

Hiccup offered out his hand which Astrid shook slightly.

"Friends?" Astrid asked, a tint of happiness in her voice.

"Friends." Hiccup affirmed.

Astrid smiled, and in that moment Hiccup realized how divine and beautiful she looked. He noticed how soft her lips were at that very moment and felt an urge to cup her face and kiss her.

"Well, uh, I have things I need to do now, Bye!" Hiccup said hurriedly before rushing away.

Unbeknownst to the two, a pair of blood-red eyes watched them from the shadows.

"Things are starting to get interesting…."

* * *

**A/N: Well How to Train your Viking in the ways of politics and betrayal. And quite a nice tidbit at the end for a small spoiler on what you would want to expect. We are starting to get into the fun stuff here. Slightly shorter chapter than usual, just because this one is very very important and to make it longer might make some people to not pay enough attention on the important stuff.**


End file.
